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<blockquote data-quote="Herschel" data-source="post: 4747678" data-attributes="member: 78357">In the character builder, if you switch the Long Sword to two-handed, you lose the bonus.&nbsp;And maintain is a mechanical term. The debate is how one interprets maintain. The warding doesn't &quot;go away&quot; when you two-hand wield, but it certainly diminishes in effectiveness. The ruling I and others have made is that you need to re-establish the extra benefit.&nbsp;Look at it this way. Heck look at the artwork for them if that helps: The swordmage &quot;casts&quot; his basic aura, but needs that free hand to cast, weave and maintain the extra shielding. When that hand is no longer free, that extra protection is interrupted and gone. It's a combat mechanic for balance. &nbsp;In theory, a Swordmage should get no warding if his sword isn't out but you describe a non-combat bit and there's a natural separation in the way game play is set up between combat and non-combat situations. When you roll initiative, the combat stuff kicks in. This is to simplify game play and the fact it's non-combat doesn't interfere with combat balance. It's a bit wonky, but that's the way it is set up.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Herschel, post: 4747678, member: 78357"] In the character builder, if you switch the Long Sword to two-handed, you lose the bonus. And maintain is a mechanical term. The debate is how one interprets maintain. The warding doesn't "go away" when you two-hand wield, but it certainly diminishes in effectiveness. The ruling I and others have made is that you need to re-establish the extra benefit. Look at it this way. Heck look at the artwork for them if that helps: The swordmage "casts" his basic aura, but needs that free hand to cast, weave and maintain the extra shielding. When that hand is no longer free, that extra protection is interrupted and gone. It's a combat mechanic for balance. In theory, a Swordmage should get no warding if his sword isn't out but you describe a non-combat bit and there's a natural separation in the way game play is set up between combat and non-combat situations. When you roll initiative, the combat stuff kicks in. This is to simplify game play and the fact it's non-combat doesn't interfere with combat balance. It's a bit wonky, but that's the way it is set up. [/QUOTE]

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